Welcome to Humanities at Otago

Our Division offers a wide range of internationally recognised programmes in the creative and performing arts, humanities, and the social sciences. In addition to our BA degree, with its wide range of majors, we offer undergraduate diplomas and degrees in Music, Performing Arts and Theology, as well as professional programmes in Law, Social Work and Teaching. We also offer a diverse set of outstanding postgraduate programmes that are highly competitive, attracting students from throughout New Zealand and from around the world.

Staff within the Division are committed to offering the highest quality educational experience to students. They bring cutting-edge knowledge generated in their research and through their professional practice into our lecture theatres, seminar rooms and performance spaces. As teachers, our academics are committed to assisting both undergraduate and postgraduate students to develop their skills, knowledge, and experience. In keeping with the University’s motto ‘Sapere Aude’ - ‘dare to know’ or ‘dare to be wise’ - students in our Division are encouraged to embrace critical thinking, applying groundbreaking methodologies, theories and approaches to make sense of human experience.

The Humanities Division at Otago is home to academic staff who are researchers, performers, and professional experts of the highest international standing: our staff frequently win prestigious awards, external research funding and many distinctions. Their intellectual work offers powerful insights into the human condition, explains how societies operate, illuminates a wide range of languages, cultures, and creative forms, helps solve social and political problems, and actively reshapes some of our most important institutions, policies and forms of cultural understanding.

This site contains a great deal of information about our full range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. I invite you to explore our website to learn more about what is on offer within the Division of Humanities.

If you require further information please contact departmental staff or the Divisional Office team. We are always ready to answer any inquiries you may have.